Rhodes University shuts down as anti-rape protests continue

The Anti-rape protests at Rhodes University (RU) continued on Wednesday morning with hundreds of students and some support staff gathered at the drama department on Prince Alfred road inside the University campus.

An email from RU management was read out to the gathered crowd informing them that all academic activity had been suspended until further notice due to the ongoing protests.

Earlier, reports confirmed that a number of students were shot at by the Grahamstown South African Police Service with rubber bullets.

Protests leaders are demanding immediate by RU management against the people they identified as “rapists”.

A list of the names of the alleged sexual abuse offenders, which has circulated on social media, has been forwarded to the RU management and protests leaders are demanding that these individuals be immediately suspended from the University and later expelled.

Pictures of protesting female students in various forms of undress have also made the rounds on social media.

Rhodes university on Wednesday said it had suspended lectures after three protesting students were arrested by police.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance said it will on Wednesday submit parliamentary questions on the resourcing and capacity of the Grahamstown SAPS station in order to assess the ability of the police in the town to address claims of sexual assault. – African News Agency (ANA)